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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 20/5
Certificates
of origin go electronic
The
Ministry of Industry and Trade officially launched the pilot electronic
certificate of origin (C/O) issuance system on Thursday, part of efforts to
expand administrative reforms and assist exporters.
The
system, available on the website www.ecosys.gov.vn, is being called a turning
point in improving the nation's business climate and administrative reforms,
as the electronic process will promote transparency and minimise time and
expenses spent by businesses, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran
Tuan Anh.
It is
also considered an important step in implementing the ASEAN one-stop customs
mechanism and
The
launch was prompted by Government Resolution 19/NQ-CP dated March 12, 2015 on
improving the business environment and national competitiveness by the end of
2016.
Data
indicated that some 11,000 companies have so far registered to have C/Os
issued online. As many as 449,353 C/Os were granted online in 2014,
increasing from 274,562 certificates the previous year.
Other
import and export procedures are expected to be made available online in the
future.
The
European Committee has received the first electronic certificate from
This was
announced by
The
certificate was granted by NAFIQUAD.
Established
in 2003, TRACES is a trans-European web-based network run by DG SANTE for
veterinary health that notifies, certifies and monitors imports, exports and
trade in animals and animal products around the world.
This
system aims to ease the paperwork needed for trading in animals and animal
products by generating documents and sending copies to appropriate
authorities inland and abroad, saving traders time and effort.
The
system also allows traders to obtain export health certificates and movement
notifications of their dispatches. It further helps authorities meet health
regulations and traders' needs.
Authorised
agencies of countries will use this system to issue electronic certificates
on food and health safety for animals and animal products imported and
exported within the EU and imported from outside the EU.
On its
official website, TRACES announced that
Currently,
NAFIQAD is piloting the issuance of TRACES certificates at 17 businesses, and
it said electronic certification would be applied to all processed seafood
exported to the EU.
Quy
Nhon becomes a magnet for tourists
A city
in a central Vietnamese province has become a magnet for tourists and
scientists on account of its green urban planning.
In
recent years Quy Nhon, the capital of
Despite
its limited area, the city abounds in lush greenery.
At its
very heart lies a six-hectare green urban space zone which is situated on
Nguyen Tat Thanh and An Duong Vuong Streets and stretches to the beaches in
The
green space was created with help from the local government.
Ho Quoc
Dung, chair of the provincial People’s Committee, said the urban green space
is the fruit of the concerted resolve made by generations of provincial and
municipal leaders for more than 20 years.
“Our
predecessors were well aware that allowing short-term investment or rampant
construction of high-rises would add money to the provincial budget, but at
the permanent cost of the city losing its identity and tourist appeal,” he
noted.
“It was
a bold decision to turn the over-6-hectare plot at the primest location in
the city’s heart into a lushly-vegetated square, considering its relatively
dense population of between 15,000 and 18,000 heads per square kilometer,”
Dung stressed.
Vu Hoang
Ha, former secretary of the provincial Party Committee, said the Binh Dinh
leaders during the late 1980s observed that despite Quy Nhon’s limited area
of around 284 square kilometers, including the inner-city area of 1,000
hectares , the city is endowed with a vast area of mountains, lagoons and
lakes.
“The
leaders, including those who took office right after 1975, when the country
was reunified, and those studying abroad and majoring in urban planning, made
it a point to tap into the city’s favorable natural elements and turn it into
the current alluring, eco-friendly locale,” he divulged.
The next
generations of provincial leaders followed suit and further cemented the
green-cherishing resolve.
Quy Nhon
has become a “rendezvous” for local and foreign scientists because of the
“green” vision of its leaders.
After
conducting surveys in different places throughout Vietnam, Professor Tran
Thanh Van, a revered Vietnamese-French physicist who is president of the
France-based Rencontres du Vietnam (Meet Vietnam) Association, finally
decided on Quy Nhon for the construction of the International Center for
Inter-Disciplinary Science and Education (ICISE), which was put into use in
August 2013.
Covering
an area of 20 hectares, the center consists of a large auditorium, conference
rooms, and a planetarium, and has become an international venue where
scientists can meet and exchange ideas.
The
professor organized the “Meeting Vietnam 2013” physics symposium, which was
attended by five Nobel laureates and several other foreign scientists, in the
same month.
The city
has been put on the global scientific map since.
“I traveled
to many cities in
“It took
them a few decades to build the city with verdant greenery and heavenly
beaches as it is now,” he added.
The city
is taking steps to realize its dream of becoming an engaging scientific and
cultural tourism destination.
Air
Aiming
to draw more
Air
Fares
from
For the
flights the airline uses the sophisticated modern state-of-the-art Boeing 787
Dreamliner, boasting the best of traveling comforts.
‘Capitalise
on natural advantages'
Successfully
utilising natural capital is essential if
Natural
capital, defined as the net value of a country or region's natural assets,
includes geological features, soil, air, water and all living things.
The
National Strategy for Environmental Protection for 2020 gives recommendations
for the country to effectively use natural resources. For example, demand for
land use needs to match the potential of the land; the use of agricultural
and forest lands for other purposes should be severely restricted; integrated
water resource management at river basins should be promoted; and vamping up
protection of natural forests.
The
strategy blamed some of the dire environmental situation on the fact that a
majority of the nation's citizens do not consider their lifestyles as part of
environmental protection efforts.
Shortcomings
and overlaps in policies were also blamed. The State Budget's funds for
environmental protection are insufficient, the national strategy declared.
According
to Nguyen Van Tai, director of the
The
strategy's findings showed that sections of rivers running through urban,
industrial- production and mining areas contain pollutants in concentrations
exceeding the permitted number by 1.5 to 3 times. Air quality is
deteriorating across the country, especially in major cities. The area of
coastal mangrove forests is now about 160,000 ha, reduced by 50 per cent
compared to 1943.
"These
are the reasons why we should focus on sustainability and the way the country
uses its natural capital towards satisfying SDGs," Tai said.
The
recently set SDGs focus on greater equity and sustainability in growth and
development, protecting the environment, and promoting peaceful and inclusive
societies. Of the 17 listed SDGs, 10 are related to environmental issues,
signaling an increasing global awareness of the environmental issues
countries like
Sanath
D. B. Ranawana, senior natural resource management specialist of Greater
Mekong Subregion's Core Environment Programme, said that SDGs served as a new
framework for measuring the economic, social and environmental development of
a country.
"In
MDGs, we have one indicator for environment, but in SDGs we have four or five
indicators that relate to the environment," he said, explaining that
SDGs are progressions of MDGs. Enhancing natural capital would therefore play
a big role in whether a country would achieve the SDGs, he said.
At the
three-day workshop, participants also discussed the future of the Greater
Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries' post-2015 sustainable development agenda.
Connected
by the
The
workshop included policy makers and organisations working to establish a
policy framework for regional co-operation aimed at enhancing natural capital
for SGDs.
SDGs, a
proposed set of targets relating to future international development, will
replace Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) once they expire at the end of
2015. They were first formally discussed at the United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012 (Rio+20).
HCMC
promotes consumption of litchi fruits
The Ho
Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade on July 15 worked with a
delegation from the northern province of Hai Duong, discussing measures to
promote the consumption of litch fruits in the city.
According
to the department, HCMC will mobilize businesses, wholesale markets together
with other distribution channels to facilitate consumption of the fruits.
At the
meeting, supermarkets affirmed priority to consume seasonal farm produce
including Thieu litchi for famers at profitable prices, for instance they
will display the fruit at easy- to- see places.
The
Ministry of Industry and Trade said that Thieu litchi output was expected to
hit over 200,000 tons this year with 60 percent of these for local market and
40 percent for exports.
Latest
figures show the export value in April was largely the same as the previous
month at US$13.35 billion, while imports fell 10.4% against March to US$13.2
billion.
Stronger
exports in April helped reduce the trade gap in the first four months of the
year to around US$2.07 billion, down nearly US$1 billion compared with an
earlier estimate by the General Statistics Office.
According
to the GDC, exports during the January-April period were US$49.69 billion, up
6.9% over the same period last year while imports rose 16.6% to US$51.77
billion.
A
breakdown shows exports from foreign enterprises rose 16.3% in the four
months ending in April to US$33.63 billion, accounting for two thirds of
Its
imports also made up 60.4% of
In April
alone, foreign enterprises exported goods worth US$9.08 billion and brought
in US$7.71 billion of goods.
Hi-tech
production soars amidst foreign investment
Production
is booming in the tech sector as recent indications see
As
planned, construction on the Samsung CE Ho Chi Minh City Complex (SEHC) will
kick off this year at the Saigon Hi-tech Park (SHTP) with a total
investment of US$1.4 billion.
“The
complex will be a cutting-edge zone of high technologies, where the latest
high-end TV series will be manufactured, similar to other
Samsung
facilities in the
In
addition to its scope for production, SEHC will also embrace research and
development (R&D) of hi-tech consumer electronics goods.
The
first-phase production will focus on consumer electronic goods, such as
smart, LCD, and LED TVs. Meanwhile, the second phase will focus on
other electronic items.
Late
last year, Samsung-widely regarded as the leading manufacturer of
smart-phones in Vietnam- made efforts to source parts towards its
prospective plant based in SHTP where dozens of businesses have eagerly
queued up with hopes of becoming the tech giants’ devices suppliers.
Samsung
first dropped anchor in
At that
time, the project, valued at US$36.5 million in initial investment, was small
in scale, mainly serving the domestic market.
On
another occasion, Samsung had to form a joint venture with local partner TIE
for the project’s deployment. In late July 2013, the company spent over
VND96 billion (US$4.4 million) to buy back the stake from TIE to become a
wholly foreign-owned firm.
In
respect to domedtic TV production, besides Samsung and other domestic
manufacturers, LG-another tech giant from Korea-currently leads this
field in
In 2013,
LG decided to pump US$1.5 billion into the northern port city of
LG’s
mega-production complex was launched in late March 2015.
Around
the same time the company leaders unveiled their plan to shift TV production
from
LG is
producing around 600,000 TVs per year in
According
to market research firm Witsview’s statistics released early this year,
Samsung and LG dominated the global LCD TV market in 2014.
Samsung
produces 22.8% and LG 14.9% of the total LCD TVs that came onto the global
market last year.
TH
True Milk certified as
The
India-based Asia Book of Records organization has recognized the dairy farm
of Vietnamese milk producer TH True Milk as the biggest hi-tech cow
raising facility in Asia, with a certificate granted during a recent ceremony
at the firm’s headquarters in central
The
Vietnamese milk producer had to compete with many contenders from
The
large size of the herd and the application of technologies provided by
Israel, the US, and Europe in raising cows and managing the farm gave
TH True Milk a very big advantage during the evaluating and voting process,
Dr. Chowdhury said.
After
reviewing the track record of the firm in association with a field survey and
actual evaluation from experts on dairy farms in Nghe An, the
organization finally decided to bestow the certification as the biggest
hi-tech dairy cow farm in Asia on TH True Milk, he said.
Earlier
this year, the Vietnam Livestock Association nominated TH True Milk as a
candidate for that Asian record.
After
drawing a comprehensive comparison with all dairy farms in Asia, the
organization confirmed in February that it would certify TH True Milk’s
as the biggest hi-tech dairy cow facility in
The
US$1.2 billion dairy farm, put into operation in October 2009, applies
automatic and professional cow raising technologies from
Currently,
the farm has 45,000 cows, of which more than 22,000 are lactating at 30-40
liters per cow every day.
It aims
to raise 203,000 cows by 2020.
TH True
Milk was honored at the same ceremony with a third-class Labor Medal
conferred by the state president for its operations and contribution to
the community.
Thai Huong,
chairperson of TH Group that owns the TH True Milk brand, was included in the
Asia's Power Businesswomen 2015 list of
Huong
was the newest representative of
Since
that year, her TH Group has invested US$450 million in importing and raising
cattle to produce clean milk using Israeli technology.
The
group is rearing its cows on an 8,100-hectare area and planning to raise the
area to 37,000 hectares, Forbes said.
TH
estimated that its 2014 revenue exceeded US$200 million with a market share
of one-third of the domestic fresh milk business.
Huong,
57, began her business in 1994 and is the founder of Bac A Commercial Joint
Stock Bank. Today, she is still the chairperson of the bank.
FDI
leads in electronics exports
Foreign
direct investment (FDI) accounted for most of the nation's total electronic
export turnover, according to a report from Vietnam Electronic
Industries Association.
At the
same time, the number of FDI enterprises represent only one-third of
electronic enterprises in
The
country's quick development in the electronics industry has mostly occurred
due to the efforts of the FDI sector, the Thoi Bao Kinh Doanh newspaper
(Business Times) said, quoting Luu Hoang Long, Chairman of the Vietnam
Electronics Industries Association.
Export
turnover of telephones and spare parts was US$24.1 billion last year,
increasing by 13.4 per cent compared to that in 2013. However, export
turnover of telephones and spare parts within the FDI sector accounted for
99.6 per cent.
Further,
the value of exported electronics, computers and spare parts last year
totalled $11.6 billion. Yet, of this number, the FDI sector accounted
for 98.8 per cent.
Some
electronics FDI giants accounting for a large proportion of market share in
the total export turnover of Vietnam's electronic industry, including
Samsung, with factories in the northern provinces of Thai Nguyen and Bac
Ninh, along with its electronics spare parts manufacturers from KSD
Vina Company, Morips Vina and Orientech Vina.
Canon
and LG are also increasing their investments in
Experts
have said that FDI enterprises expanding their scale of production in
Of the
90 satellite enterprises producing spare parts for Samsung, only six to seven
Vietnamese enterprises produce such parts. These enterprises provide
mostly printing and wrapping products.
Vu Quoc
Huy, deputy head of the Ministry of Planning and investment's Department for
Economic Zones Management, said that Vietnamese enterprises account for
only 10 per cent of the total providers.
The
participation of Vietnamese enterprises, in association with Canon, is
unremarkable, involving mainly sectors that require simple technology.
Spare
parts and components requiring high degrees of accuracy are imported from
other countries or produced by FDI enterprises, Huy added.
According
to statistics from the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) on the
comparison of domestic spare parts and raw materials and ancillary materials
provided for industrial products, while
Further,
customers who purchase a mobile phone from Sony see that only earphones are
labeled as being "Made in
According
to experts,
One of
the reasons the electronics industry remains weak is that import taxes on
spare parts remain high, while import taxes are lower (five or zero per
cent) for completely built products, which encourages enterprises to import
the latter, instead of selling domestically- produced ones.
Despite
the launch of the "Vietnamese Use Vietnamese Goods" campaign,
enterprises, especially state-owned enterprises, always face technical
and non-technical barriers.
To
increase added value and the gross domestic product (GDP) of
He
advises domestic enterprises to boost the manufacturing of spare parts for
FDI providers. Boosting Vietnamese enterprises that manufacture
electronic products, information and technology for other producers will
increase the value-added proportion of products made in
To
enhance the competitive capacity of electronics enterprises, companies should
carry out synchronous measures, from production to distribution, as
well as creating government policies supporting enterprises, said Long.
Buying
from such famous platforms as Amazon or eBay might be no longer a big deal
for most Vietnamese consumers, as an online shopping portal has been
launched.
At
weshop.com.vn, local shoppers can now shop for goods from international
retailers and distributors and have the purchases delivered to their
door, according to the businesses behind the platform.
WeShop
The platform
is the first-ever transnational online shopping portal in
weshop.com.vn
boasts more than 200 million goods items of all kinds from popular US brands
including Amazon, 6PM, Forever21, TopShop, Disney, and ToysRus. There
are also around 1 million products from RoK, supplied by Interpark, the
largest e-commerce group in the East Asian country.
The
products will be shipped to
WeShop
will deal with the sellers to resolve complaints or such issues as product
return or refund on its customers’ behalf.
Prices
are listed in Vietnamese dong and payment is accepted via bank transfer,
credit card, or
PeaceSoft,
which is partnered by Ebay to run the ebay.vn website in
WeShop
Global has launched similar online shopping platforms in
Surging
exports in the latter half of April helped contain
The
country’s total export revenue for the January-April period jumped 6.9%
on-year to US$49.69 billion while its imports surged 16.6% to US$51.77
billion resulting in a trade deficit of US$2 billion.
The GSO
attributes the better than expected figures to a stronger export picture in
the latter part of April, resulting in a much smaller deficit than the
US$3 billion it had forecast.
Export
revenue took an unanticipated upturn during the second half of April (nearly
US$7 billion) with telephones and components, crude oil, garment,
footwear and computer revenue tallies showing robust growth.
Meanwhile
for the second half of April imports dipped 15.6% to US$6.08 billion. Key
imported products witnessing decline were computers, electronic
products and components, equipment, tools and telephones.
Exports
to
A surge
in exports with higher added value spurred Vietnamese exports to
Shipments
by exporters from Vietnam to India in the three months leading up to April
surged 30.52% on-year to US$644.46, propelled by mobile telephones and components
skyrocketing 41.37% to US$258.35 million.
All
told, mobile telephones and components accounted for 40% of the total exports
trailed by computers, electronics and components at US$41.75 million,
up modestly 1.31% on year.
Equipment,
machines and tools ranked third on the list of exports for the January-March
period at US$36.73 million, free falling down 34.25% compared to last
year’s corresponding period.
Other
items that saw robust growth during the period included metal (up 172.97%),
fibres (up 47.92%), animal food and material (up 69.97%), ceramics (up
239.18%) and cashew nuts (up 299.59%).
Car
buyers continue preferring imported vehicles
Vietnamese
people have shown that they favor imported cars over locally assembled vehicles,
as the debate about whether the local automobile industry can withstand
a possible collapse after 2018 has not ended.
Last
month Mercedes-Maybach, the re-launched luxury brand from Daimler AG,
reported that Vietnamese customers have ordered ten units of its luxury
Mercedes-Maybach S600 model, which cost VND9.6 billion (US$451,850) each.
Fifty
Mercedes-Maybach S600 cars will be produced for the global market in 2015,
the German carmaker said.
Official
figures have also indicated that sales of imported cars in the first four
months of this year were much better than expected, with 34,000 units
worth some $883 million sold, an increase of 125.4% and 188.8% in volume and
value compared to the same period last year.
According
to a recent report by the General Statistics Office (GSO), about 9,000
automobiles, or completely built units (CBUs), were imported into the
country last month with a turnover of US$294 million.
The
all-new Mercedes-Maybach S600 attracts interest after its unveiling at the LA
Auto Show's press and trade day in
Compared
with the previous month, the importation of CBUs fell by 11% in volume, but
rose 7.4% in value.
According
to a recently released report of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers'
Association (VAMA), total sales of personal cars in
The
number of CBUs imported by VAMA members topped 4,200 vehicles, up 19% from
the previous month.
While
sales of locally assembled vehicles during the first four months rose by 58%,
the sales of imported cars surged 73% compared to the same period last
year, according to the VAMA.
The
Southeast Asian country last year spent US$1.57 billion importing 72,000
vehicles, rising 103.8% and 117.3% in volume and value compared to
2013, respectively, the highest rates ever, the GSO said in its report in
January.
As sales
of domestically assembled automobiles, or CKDs, grew more slowly than the
sales of CBUs, this reflects the trend that Vietnamese people continued
to turn away from the former.
In late
April, local experts raised concerns about the survival of the automobile
industry following Japanese carmaker
By 2018,
as soon as the import taxes slapped on many kinds of personal cars imported
from ASEAN countries sharply drop or are exempted altogether as
promised by
The
ASEAN members include
Many
luxury car brands, including Lamborghini, Jaguar, Bentley and Rolls-Royce,
have established branches in
Vietnam
is projected to stand third in the group of countries with the fastest growth
rate of affluent population globally, or New Wealth Builders (NWBs),
which are households with financial assets of US$100,000 to US$2 million, in
the 2014-2020 period, according to a report released by the Economist
Intelligence Unit under The Economist magazine on March 23.
During
the period, the Southeast Asian country will have about 347,000 NWBs,
representing a 34.9% compound annual growth rate, standing behind only
Total
assets of the Vietnamese group will top US$68.1 million, or about US$196,500
per household.
Meanwhile,
according to the latest Wealth Report 2015 unveiled by British property
consultant firm Knight Frank in March,
The
Southeast Asian country will also see the fastest growth rate in the number
of UHNWIs at 159 percent in the 2014-2024 period, followed by
In 2014,
As
defined by Knight Frank in the report, UHNWIs are those with assets of US$30
million or more.
The
Establishment Post news website quoted a report from Euromonitor
International as stating that more than 100,000 Vietnamese in 2013 had
a disposable income of more than US$75,000 per annum.
A survey
conducted by Nielsen concluded that
Moreover,
56% of the participants responded that they are willing to pay more for designer
products than for less known brands with the same functionality, the
Establishment Post reported.
National
Road 30 to be widened
More
than 30 kilometres of National Road 30 will be widened under a US$52.5
million project that began yesterday in the southern
The
widening will be carried out across Dong Thap and neighbouring Tien Giang
provinces so that vehicles can travel safely at speeds of 60 to 80 km per
hour. It is expected to take 18 months.
Transport
Deputy Minister Nguyen Van The asked local authorities and residents to
co-operate on land clearance work for the project National Road 30 is a key
transport route connecting several provinces in the Mekong Delta, including
Dong Thap, Tien Giang, Long An and Can Tho.
Meanwhile,
a new hydro-power plant was opened in the Mekong Delta
The Dong
Nai 2 plant is expected to add about 263.8 million kilowatts a year to the
national power grid. This is enough for about 250,000 people.
The
plant was started on the Da Dang River in December, 2007 by the local-based
Trung Nam Hydropower Co., JSC.
The
total cost of the plant was about VND3.5 trillion ($162.7 million).
The
Trung Nam Company had to pay compensation for more than 1,100 hectares of
farming land taken from residents.
Most of
the 1,200 affected households lived in the two districts of Di Linh and Lam
Ha and were ethnic minority people.
Central
Highlands given huge project boost
More
than 30 socio-economic investment projects are planned for the Central
Highlands provinces of Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Lam Dong,
under commitments made at a conference yesterday in Lam Dong.
The
Steering Committee for the
Tran Dai
Quang, head of the steering committee, said that despite vast potential for
development, the Central Highlands has remained underdeveloped, accounting
for about 4.5 percent of the country's GDP.
The
State budget alone could not meet the region's investment needs for
development, he said, emphasing that capital should be mobilised from both domestic
and foreign sources like official development assistance (ODA) and foreign
direct investment (FDI).
The
Central Highlands should also continue to reform its policies and
administrative procedures, create a favourable investment environment, and
improve infrastructure and human resources to attract investors, Quang said.
At the
conference, five Central Highlands provinces granted investment licences to
13 projects worth more than VND16.6 trillion (US$768 million), mainly in
agriculture, animal husbandry, services and energy.
Kon Tum
attracted the highest investments, worth VND7.7 trillion ($357 million),
while Gia Lai welcomed the largest number of projects.
The
provinces and firms also signed 15 co-operative projects and three MoUs in
hydroelectricity, transport and agriculture, with commercial banks pledging
to lend VND15 trillion ($694 million) for their implementation.
According
to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the
Between
2011 and 2014, the region received $410 million in ODA. From 2011 to April
2015, it secured 38 FDI projects worth $122 million. Lam Dong led localities
with 29 projects worth nearly $75 million, accounting for 61.5 percent of the
region's total investment.
Source :
VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Tư, 20 tháng 5, 2015
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